Thursday, February 20, 2020

“Free government- issued cigarettes… [were] an integral part of a soldier’s ration until 1973. As a result, cigarette smoking became an American habit… [and] a marker of patriotic masculinity.”
– Brad Carter –

I’m fascinated with the intersection between what was, what is and what’s next. That’s probably why a recent review of the book Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em: The Rise and Fall of the Military Cigarette Ration caught my eye. Click here for the review and note the military’s role in both the creation of cigarette-smoking culture in the U.S. as well as it’s demise. Then ask yourself whether your organization or industry has it’s own equivalent of cigarette-smoking culture, why said culture arose and how (or if) it’s being addressed.